Democratic Gov. Janet Mills responds to the final report of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston on Sept. 6 at the State House. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Gov. Janet Mills agreed with the conclusion of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston that the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Army Reserve failed to take actions that could have changed the course of events leading up to the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.
During a press conference at the State House on Friday, Mills said the Oct. 25 shooting, when army reservist Robert Card III killed 18 people and injured 13 others, was a “colossal failure of human judgment by several people, on several occasions,” echoing the takeaways of the final report released by the commission on Aug. 20.
Mills pointed to opportunities for the public and the state’s elected officials to enact change within the two key agencies found at fault in the report.
Upcoming election
Sagadahoc County will elect a sheriff in November. Both candidates running were a part of the office during its reported mishandling in the lead up to the shooting.
Mills named Sgt. Aaron Skolfield during the press conference, reiterating report findings that Skolfield made only “limited attempts” to contact Card for wellness checks and failed to follow up on leads. Mills did not name incumbent Sheriff Joel Merry, though spoke about the overall office’s failings under his leadership.
The commission unanimously concluded the office had probable cause to take Card into protective custody under Maine’s Extreme Risk Protection Order, otherwise referred to as the “yellow flag” law, and to initiate a petition to confiscate his firearms but failed to do so.
Mills urged voters to read and consider the commission’s findings before casting their vote but declined to take a stance on who she supports for the role, or whether she’d be in favor of a write-in alternative.
“I’m simply asking the voters of Sagadahoc County to do their due diligence,” Mills said.
Army reform
Regarding the U.S. Army Reserve, earlier Friday morning Mills sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging him to ensure the full and timely implementation of recommendations outlined in a July report from the Army to improve oversight and care of its personnel.
In this letter, Mills also stated that she will support forthcoming legislation being drafted by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and independent Angus King authorizing the military to utilize state crisis prevention programs, such as Maine’s “yellow flag” law. Mills also urged Austin to support the legislation.
Army releases internal investigation detailing failures in lead up to Lewiston shooting
The 215-page final report is the most comprehensive account of the lead up and aftermath of the Lewiston shooting — details for which the commission obtained through 16 public hearings with law enforcement, Card’s family, the victims’ families and others, as well as several private meetings — since Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey formally established the seven-member body on Nov. 9.
While Mills said she has full faith in the facts as determined by the commission, she said the report was disturbing and painful to read, highlighting in particular the fact that Card’s family repeatedly raised concerns about his declining mental health that authorities failed to act on.
Maine State Police release internal review
Mills also said she supported the primary recommendations outlined in an after-action review released by the Maine State Police Friday morning.
These recommendations include providing additional active-shooter training for sworn personnel to better coordinate responses during mass casualties and developing investigative crime scene protocols, which could include a memorandum of understanding with federal partners.
The search for Card was the largest manhunt in Maine history, which involved the coordination of more than 400 law enforcement officers, 16 tactical teams and several federal agencies — a strategy for which the after-action review found numerous areas for improvement.
For example, when it came to tactical teams, self-deployment resulted in an uncontrolled influx of resources that caused safety issues and duplication of work, the review concluded. Therefore, another recommendation is to limit self-deployment when incident command is established and active.
Final Lewiston commission report concludes multi-agency failures in lead up to shooting
Other recommendations in this review that Mills supports include reviewing protocols for responding to incidents involving people who are deaf, hard of hearing or do not speak English. Four members of Maine’s deaf community were killed during the October shooting.
Mills said the state police will sit down with her financial officers to determine the funding needed to fully implement these recommendations and promised to approve such funding in the biennial budget next session.
In the final report, the commission also requested the state police’s after-action review undergo an independent evaluation. The state police has requested that the New England State Police Administrators Compact conduct that review, according to the Department of Public Safety’s public information officer Shannon Moss, though there is not yet a date for when the review is set to be completed.
New laws
Several laws proposed in response to the mass shooting took effect Aug. 9.
Mills highlighted several of these changes on Friday, including a law she proposed, which modifies the state’s existing yellow flag law by allowing police to get protective custody warrants to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody and remove their weapons. The law also expands background checks for advertised sales and incentivizes checks for unadvertised sales.
Another gun reform that took effect in August did so without the governor’s sign off. The law, which requires a 72-hour-waiting period after certain purchases, passed by a narrow margin, with some legislative Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition. Mills said she was “deeply conflicted” about the reform but allowed it to become law without her signature.
Also last session, Mills vetoed a proposal that would have changed the definition of machine guns to limit their use and required that firearms used in a crime be destroyed.
The supplemental budget Mills signed in April funded additional public safety measures, such as the establishment of a violence prevention program and more crisis receiving centers throughout the state.
While advocates for mental health applauded the supports included in the budget, they lamented items left out, which largely would have required dedicated funding. While sympathizing with the challenge of securing long-term appropriations, advocates argued that sustainable solutions require ongoing funds.
The budget also provided more funding for Maine’s “yellow flag” law, which has seen increased use since the Lewiston shooting. Mills said Friday the law has been used a total of 392 times, 311 of which since last October shooting.
The most ambitious gun reform last session, a proposed “red flag” law, never made it to a final vote. When asked on Friday whether she would support such a change if taken up next session, Mills said her current focus is ensuring the changes that did pass are robustly funded.
“Right now, I just want to fully implement what we have in place,” Mills said.
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